Coruptie in Universitatile Germane

Germany’s famed reputation for educational excellence has been hit by a scandal over degrees for sale. Prosecutors are investigating up to one hundred professors suspected of taking bribes to help students get their doctorates. It’s claimed some students paid an intermediary up to 20,000 euros for their Ph.Ds. “All disciplines are involved, including the so-called classics: law, medicine and philosophy, as well as technical faculties,” said prosecutor Gunther Feld. [Euronews]

The investigation was opened last year after another probe of the Institute for Scientific Consulting in connection with a similar scheme.

After authorities searched the firm's headquarters in March 2008, the company's head was charged with paying bribes in a case involving a Hannover University law professor. The man, whose name was not released in line with German privacy laws, was found guilty and sentenced in July 2008 to 3 1/2 years in prison, and fined euro75,000.

The professor confessed in court to accepting nearly euro200,000 to serve as a faculty adviser to more than 60 doctorate students between 1998 and 2005.

The professor said he needed the money to renovate his Hamburg mansion. [NYTimes]